http://www.straycarrierpigeon.com/200... ( )

The setting of this book is during World War One. We see what the conflict was like at home with the pressures of enlisting, the bond drive, and the development of propaganda. The war is shown over seas through the eyes of Leland Wheeler aka Lee Duncan; who is shipped off to an air field station in France when he is falsely accused of a crime. With Europe engulfed in battle, no resources remained to continue filming movies. So, the Great War causes the development, and the boom, of the Hollywood film industry. Soon films were sent to the front to boost morale.

The novel is divided into four separate stories with four main characters. Each individual affects those around them without the characters actually knowing each other. This does not always prove an effective literary tool as some characters are very fascinating and engrossing and some are not. Charlie Chaplin was the best part of the novel. Chaplin is known by everyone through his stardom. His story is the most intriguing. I couldn’t wait until the narrative returned to him. Rebecca Golod runs a con on each of them and she is important to Leland’s story, but I could have done without her. She fades to the background for most of the novel. Hugo Black sees Leland Wheeler in a travelogue. Leland’s tale is the only one that comes close to being as compelling as Chaplin’s. Hugo’s adventure was boring until it turned from comedy to tragedy. Each person’s story does have similarities; issues with parental figures, yearnings to be the best they can be.

It took me a while to get adjusted to the narrative structure. At times, I wanted to skip through one tale to get to the more interesting one. The novel is well written and I enjoyed reading it; especially the sections about the beginning of the film industry in California. ( )

I am so sad that this doesn't work ( )

I'm not even a third into it, and I already think it will go up a star. ( )

Sunnyside is Glen David Gold's second novel. The first, Carter Beats the Devil, was published in 2001. I just recently read Carter and thought it marvelous. It isn't surprising that Gold takes so long to finish a novel... both are big works, in every sense of the word, large in page count and wide-ranging in scope. In Carter, it worked well. Sunnyside is more ambitious, less successful, but a worthy read.

Gold obviously has an epic mind. Both books are set in the early 20th century. The main character in Carter is a magician, Charles Carter. In Sunnyside, the main character is Charlie Chaplin, but there are numerous more-or-less associated plots and characters. One is an aspiring actor, Lee, who winds up as a U.S. military airman in France where he meets the love of his life. Another is a U.S. soldier in Russia. The themes are as wide-ranging as the geography, being the nature of artistic creation, the nature of ambition, and, of course. love, or sometimes what passes for it.

The failure is that there are a lot of fascinating pieces, but they don't add up to one puzzle, so that the book as a whole feels out of control. Which feels strange, because in every piece Gold does seem to be in control, of the characters, the dialog, the emotions, the themes, everything. He is an amazing writer, though I sometimes got tired of certain stories, but I think that was mostly because I wanted more Chaplin.

In my opinion, Sunnyside is a magnificent failure... but one I'm happy to have read. Gold in failing is far more interesting than more successful but less ambitious works. ( )